FROM MAULANA’S DESK

FROM MAULANA’S DESK 1. The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims 2012, Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Jordan. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, born in 1925, in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, is an Islamic spiritual scholar who is well-versed in both classical Islamic learning and modern disciplines. The mission of his life has been the establishment of worldwide peace. He has received the Padma Bhushan, the Demiurgus Peace International Award and Sayyidina Imam Al Hassan Peace award for promoting peace in Muslim societies. He has been called ’Islam’s spiritual ambassador to the world’ and is recognized as one of its most influential Muslims1. His books have been translated into sixteen languages and are part of university curricula in six countries. He is the founder of the Centre for Peace and Spirituality based in New Delhi. NEWS FROM AUSTRALIA The following is a report on a recent development in Sydney, Australia: POLICE in Australia's most populous state will be allowed, under a proposed law, to shoot suspects in “terrorist-related” incidents, even if the attacker does not pose an imminent threat, New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berejiklian said yesterday. The change comes after a series of “lone wolf” Islamist-inspired attacks, the most serious of which raised questions about the traditional police strategy of “contain and negotiate” in hostage situations. Under the proposal, lethal force can be used immediately if an incident is declared “terrorist related” by the state’s most senior police officer, Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. Currently, police have to wait until a suspect demonstrates an imminent threat to others. Authorities said that the present law curtailed their ability to end a 2014 siege in Sydney’s Lindt Cafe in which three people, including the hostage-taker were killed. (“Oz cops get more teeth in terror fight”, The Times of India, 9 June 2017)